What are The 9 Best Hiking Shirts for Women

When looking for a nice long sleeve for hiking in hot weather, you must carefully look out for some certain criteria first.

The shirts you choose must satisfy these conditions so you would know you have your money’s worth.

Ultraviolet Protection Factor

First and foremost, the UPF. This is the bane of everything. There’s no other reason to look for long sleeves for hot weather if not this.

The ultraviolet protection factor in itself is not what protects you from the rays of the sun but it’s the number that determines the ratio of sunburn caused by UV rays.

The UPF rating goes up from 15 to 50+ which denotes that the UV radiation blocked also goes higher from 93.3 to 98+

In a testing done by Consumer reports, they said that protective fabrics typically have a UPF rating of 30.

Therefore, this is the number or higher you should look out for.

Material

Anything hiking shirt including this one should be made from materials that allows breath-ability (ability to allow moisture vapor to be drawn away from your body through the material). It should be lightweight.

The material should be flexible enough to that it doesn’t restrict your movement. Which means the material must also be stretchable so it can adjust as you move with it.

One of such material that can do this is the high-tech polyester. Avoid cotton!

Antimicrobial Treatment

The other thing to look out for is if the material has antimicrobial properties.

Antimicrobial is an agent that kills microorganisms or stops their growth.

Without it, the shirt will be contaminated leading to odor when in use.

The durability of the shirt will also be compromised.

Style

It’s already established that you need a shirt. This could be a hiking top that is sleeveless, long sleeve or short sleeve.

In addition to this, long sleeve provides more coverage and adds an extra layer of protection for your arms when the rays of the sun hits you. This is called Sun protective measure.

The only constraint here is if you want a long sleeve that’s a T-shirt (neck-saving collar) or a button front along with pockets or the other styles of shirts mentioned.

Cooling Features

This is already contained in the material section when we talked about the breathability etc.

Nevertheless, there are some certain technology put in place for hot-weather clothing called the Cooling-compound technology.

As of 2012 the first cooling shirt that lowers body temperature was made. As perspiration evaporates, it draws heat away from the body, then wicking fabrics facilitate this process by distributing sweat evenly over the fabric so that it dries more quickly.

I’ve written these already here – best long sleeve hiking shirt for hot weather

In Addition,

Durability

If you’re a hiker on a budget, then, I presume you’d consider this feature very well. Either way, durability is key to whatever we buy these days. Hence, we go for quality.

For a hiking shirt, durability is one to five years of regular trail use.

Some of the things to look out for when determining if a shirt is going to be durable or not is to check for these;

• The fabric/material:- Nylon or polyester
• The yoke:-
• The collar:-
• The buttons:- 
• The stitching:- Back-stitch
• The design:-

Easy Care

Hiking shirts should be quick to dry, machine washable and shouldn’t shrink wash after wash. This is important because when going out on a hiking journey, you’re expected to take only few clothes with you.

Therefore its paramount that these clothes meet this criteria for optimum reuse.